


In Which David Works For The Brooklyn Newsies

by TroyBolton



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe, But not the kind of spy ur thinkin I mean kinda but not really, Had Davey not been there to REALLY push them about the strike, I mean...you'll see, I was thinking about how things would be different, Other, Spy David Jacobs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-06 03:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TroyBolton/pseuds/TroyBolton
Summary: Davey would have preferred to work in Manhattan, it was much closer to home and the inside city felt a lot safer than Brooklyn ever did to him, but he and his brother had to settle for the opening they could take and that was right with the Brooklyn Newsies.





	1. "I have a job for you" and 'The Boy in Blue'

Davey would have preferred to work in Manhattan, it was much closer to home and the inside city felt a lot safer than Brooklyn ever did to him, but he and his brother had to settle for the opening they could take and that was right with the Brooklyn Newsies. Now he wouldn’t be so bothered with this had it not been for the fact they were run by someone rather intimidating, but he couldn’t complain now. It's all he and Les currently have to make money for their family until their father is able to get up and working again.   
  
That doesn’t mean he didn’t wish he’d found a better area to work in. Or a better job, anything really that paid more than what he currently got between he and Les. And when the strike with the Manhattan Newsies started...well, lets just say that Davey wasn’t ready for the job Spot had in mind for him…   


_ -*-*-*-*-*-*- _   


“You and that brother been workin’ here awhile yeah Mouth?” Spot asked, swinging his cane around as they walked.

Davey never liked the nickname ‘Mouth’, but he knew better than to speak against it. He nodded as an answer and awkwardly cleared his throat, “Why uh...why? Did we do something wrong? If one of the others are accusing Les of stealing their spot-”

“Slow down there Mouth.” Spot pressed his cane against Davey’s chest lightly, stopping him in his tracks. “I need you to do me a favor. Ya know that strike goin’ on down in Manhattan? Need ya to spy on them for me. Tell me what they’re doin’ about all that strike business.”

Davey frowned.  _ Spy _ ? Spot  _ did _ know what their jobs were, right? To sell papers and make sure they had enough money to get by in life. Not to  _ spy. _ “I'm….I'm not sure I understand?” 

“I need ya to go over t’ Manhattan and keep an eye on them newsies. Before I join in on their little ‘strike’, I gotta be sure they know what it takes.” Spot replied. It really was a order Davey couldn’t refuse even if he wanted to, even if this was his first time being a ‘spy’ for Spot. Spot trusted him enough with this kinda job so obviously that meant something right?  It was rare to see the leader of the Brooklyn Newsies trust someone so quickly, especially if it was someone like Davey. Davey couldn’t admit that he was at least a little excited about this job. Just a little though.   
  
So Davey agreed and by the next day he found himself without his brother over on the other side of the bridge. Manhattan wasn’t new to him at all, he and Les lived there with his parents and sister, but it was still fairly nerve wracking to him being alone and spying on other newsies of all things. He casually bought some papers and made his way to the busiest area he could find. Naturally it wasn’t too hard for him to start selling, but it was a little hard to get people’s attention with the strike going on and all. Strike business made people trust you less from what Davey had found out.   
**  
****_Step 1. Try and run into another Newsie._ **   
  
That was easy enough right? Well surprisingly it really wasn’t. Davey hadn’t seen a single Manhattan Newsie around all day and he wasn’t quite sure  _ where _ to find one during a strike.    
  
Ah yes, the strike, that would explain it.   
  
He groaned and shook his head. “This was a stupid idea.” Davey grumbled to no one in particular, “Not only am I selling in a area that's not mine without my brother, I’m spying for someone who doesn’t even control m-”    
  
“Hey, what're you doin’ over there?” a voice called.  _ Angry. _ Davey looked around, somewhat stunned and confused by the sudden question. It  _ was _ thrown at him right? Maybe he was only hearing things, that did tend to happen when he was deep in thought.   
  
“You look awful dumb lookin’ around like that kid. ‘M right behind you.”   
  
Davey spun around in a panic and backed up, taking in the view of the person now in front of him. He looked scruffy. Blue shirt and grey vest, pretty basic pants, and his hat. Well there goes Davey’s problem with not being able to find any newsies around. “I-I  uhm…”   
  
**_Step 2. Try to get on the newsies good side._ **   
  
“You sellin’ in my spot?” the boy snapped at him. It didn’t seem to threatening but had enough of a edge to it to send Davey taking a couple more steps back. ‘ _ Just incase’  _ he noted. _ ‘Just incase he tries to fight me.’ _ __  
  
“I wasn’t aware this was anyones spot.” he stuffed his papers back into his bag and fiddled with the strap. “I uhm...no one was selling here today so- uh…”   
  
“So you assumed you could just waltz on in here with your fancy cap and tie and sell where you pleased?” the boy in blue snorted, “Haven’t you heard? There's a strike goin’ on. If you intend on continuin’ sellin I guess I’m goin’ to have to soak ya. No newsie is meant to be sellin’ on my watch. Especially on my sellin’ spot kid.”   
  
“Oh thats...well I mean…I just….” Davey was at a loss for words. Sure he didn’t think step two would be easy but he wasn’t aware it would be  _ this _ hard. He hardly even said a word and the boy in blue already wanted to start a fight with him. “My names David Jacobs!” a pause, “It's nice to meet you?” the taller boy squeaked out in a rushed panic.   
  
It certainly shocked the boy in blue, thats for sure. “Oh well….never seen ya’ around. Names Jack Kelly.” The newly dubbed ‘Jack Kelly’ spit on his hand and stuck it out for Davey to shake. Davey knew better than to accept such a shake, it somewhat grossed him out.   
He declined.   
  
“Have I seen you around somewhere before?” he looked Davey up and down as if expecting to suddenly remember just where Davey could have possibly been before now. It sort of scared Davey, but only a little bit.   
  
“No? Uhm...unless you’ve seen me walking my brother home or something. He works over in a different newsie area. We decided to split apart and try to get more money in different areas so I work here and he works in Brooklyn.” he lied through his teeth. Wasn’t his best lie but one couldn’t expect better from someone thinking lies up on the spot.   
  
“Brooklyn eh? Better be careful of that place, Spot Conlon can be quite the intimidatin’ guy.” says ‘Jack Kelly’ in response. “Weird that you’d let a little brother of yours go walkin’ around on his own in Brooklyn though…”   
  
**_Step 2.0. Get this ‘Jack Kelly’ to not be suspicious of you and your brother’s ‘work tactics’_ **   
  
“Well I trust Les with my life. I go back to him every day after I’m done selling papers. Well I mean I wait in the middle of the bridge and he meets me there, then we walk back to our apartment and hand the money our parents need over and keep what we need to buy more papers for the next day.”  _ God _ he hoped this boy believed him.    
  
“Alright kid, didn’t need to know the entire life’s story.” Jack smiled a little, just a little, crossing his arms and tilting his head. “All that aside, why you sellin’ papes when you should be part of the strike eh? We all work for the same guy, may as well be workin’ against him together too.”   
  
Well step 2.0 was clearly easy enough. Now for the next step...what was the next step again?    
  
Ah yes.   
  
**_Step 3. Try and learn more about the Manhattan strike from this ‘Jack Kelly’_ **   
  
“I mean that's a very er...compelling argument...but it seems only the Manhattan newsies are on strike? None of the other areas look like they’ve done much about it. They all seem to want to keep their jobs and a roof over their head rather than do something they’ve never done before.”   
  
“Well yeah because none of them want to join until they get word from Brooklyn. Which is where I was goin’ mind you. Care to join?” Jack quirked a brow and turn to walk, “Don’t care if you refuse or nothin’ but it would be in better interest if you came along.”   
  
_ Well shit _ , this isn’t exactly what Davey was hoping to get out of this. On one hand, it would be better to be back in Brooklyn where his brother currently was selling, but on the other, Spot would kill him if he found out he was just casually walking around selling. It's not like he wasn’t doing his job, he's just doing it differently.  Guess it's time to change step three.   
  
****_Step 3.0. Keep Spot from killing you after this next interaction with Jack if it happens._

Davey sighed in defeat and followed after Jack. Most of their journey through town was fairly quiet up until they were almost to the bridge. “So Davey, you don't seem like the kinda guy who just decides to be a newsie. What’cha here sellin’ papers for?”

“Well my dad? He was part of the trolley strike. He ended up with a busted leg and I and Les had to take up jobs. Sarah? She's my sister, she works too. Washes people's clothe for them.” Davey shrugged. “Sorry, you didn’t need that thrown on you. I-I mean you asked but you didn’t need to know everything I guess. Sorry.”

“Nah its fine. I don’t gotta’ family. My old man ended up dead on the streets when I was younger. Me? I’s been a newsie ever since. Got myself caught a couple a times but it wasn't too hard to break out.” Jack smirked, “You keep that little brother of yours safe yeah? Haven't met ‘im yet but I bet he's good at sellin’ papes. Bet he’d be good at convincing Joe to lower the price.”   
  
Davey hummed in response. Maybe this ‘Jack Kelly’ wasn't as bad as he figured. Though he did threaten to  _ ‘soak him’ _ for selling papers in his spot (to be fair, Davey was unaware it was anyone's spot) it did seem like it was all just an act thus far. “I think you’d like Les. He's a bundle of energy and in all honesty I haven’t known you for long, but you remind me a lot of him.”

“I do eh? I feel like I’s heard of you and your brother before. I swear your name is familiar to me.” Jack scratched his head as they walked. “But whatever, we’s here.” Before Davey could even blink they were already at the other end of the Brooklyn bridge. He stopped walking, grip tightening on his bag as they took their step off the bridge.   
  
“Somethin’ wrong?”

“Oh! Uh no no it's fine.” Davey cleared his throat, “Just uhm...Brooklyn makes me anxious is all.”  
  
“Shouldn't. If your little brother can work here then you’s got nothing to worry bout.” Jack grinned and continued walking down to the docks. Little to Jack’s knowledge, Davey knew this area all too well. Sure he didn’t work here long and was suddenly thrown into the spy business, but he knew it well enough. He knew at least a few of the newsies names. He knew who had families and who didn’t, he also knew how protective Spot was of his newsies and how the guy would put himself in the face of danger just to make sure none of them were too hurt in the end.   
  
The docks were a common place for the Brooklyn Newsies to hang about. Some of them went there for extra work, some of them came down to relax and chat. Some just wanted a good swim before they had to go back to the boarding house and relax for the rest of the night. It was a sort of home to them. Davey enjoyed it a tiny bit, Les liked to be here and talk with other kids his age who also ended up having to sell papers for one reason or another. While Davey wasn’t too fond of some of the newsies, he didn’t try to stop his brother from making any friends.   
  
Before Davey knew it they were in front of Spots little hangout area, and quite honestly? Davey was not prepared for the argument he was about to witness between the two newsboy leaders.


	2. In Which David Snaps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack nodded quickly and watched as Spot left to check up on the recent newsies who had returned from selling their paper. “He’s uhm...he’s quite the intimidating person.” Davey said, “I’m surprised you stood up to him so easily, I would have backed down after he said no the first time.” 
> 
> “Thats because you don’t know Spot Conlon like I do.”

“Davey!” a boy very clearly younger than the other quickly bolted up and smashed himself against Davey's legs. He giggled with a soft sort of excitement, “Didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”  
  
“Well I didn’t think I’d find you back in Spot’s area but here we are now.” Davey snorted. He ruffled Les’s hair playfully while the younger shoved him a little. “Where is Spot by the way? Got a visitor from Manhattan looking for him.”  
  
“A visitor from Manhattan? Like the ones you’re sp-” Davey quickly placed his hand on Les’s mouth and laughed.  
  
“Jack, I’d like you to meet my younger brother Les, he's got quite a big imagination and doesn't know how to keep secrets.” Davey laughed nervously. “Don’t know what he’s saying half the time. Uh, Spot should be here in a little bit. We can sit and wait on the docs till he gets back I guess. Maybe you can get to know my little brother better.”

Jack, while thrown off by the excitement between the two brothers, shrugged and casually made his way over to the docs, sitting down and letting his legs swing over the edge. “Kids pretty cute, bet he sells plenty o’ papes a day eh? How many you buy at a time kid?”

“Ten! I’m plannin’ on trying for twenty on my own tomorrow!” Les beamed, “Davey sells that many a day, or he tries to, with the strike thing goin’ on he hasn’t been able to sell much at all.”

“Well then that just means my strike is workin’ right?” Jack chuckled, “Soon enough there won't be a single newsie selling any papes as long as I got a say in it. If we all stop selling, then they have to lower the prices back where they were.” Davey was quite surprised by how thought out Jack had this situation thus far. Naturally he would have believed that the newsies didn’t have their plan all together, kids without full education were always so looked down upon within the society, yet here was this Jack Kelly acting like he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Why is upping the prices such a big deal to you though?” Davey asked. “It's not like its been sent up by much right?”

“You got a family yeah Dave? Well us newsies, we gotta work together on keepin’ ourselves off the streets and in the lodging house. Now prices for lodging plus a bite o’ food and maybe a full meal if we’re lucky is almost as expensive as tryin to keep your own family on its feet. If we lose more money buying papes we can't sell, we’re slowly going to lose what we need for lodging and food. Soon enough all we’ll have enough for is a couple of papers and not much else.” Jack took a breath, trying to catch up with what he’d explained and looking for the right way to word what he wanted to say next.

“I never really thought much of it that way.” Davey hummed, “You really got this entire strike thing figured out.”

“It's thanks to the co leader of our strike, his names Crutchie. Kid went around askin’ the trolley strikers how they managed their strike and came back to us with information. You probably seen him around before, has a bad leg, the brightest smile, and is always optimistic about everything.”  
  
Not much conversation between the two went on, having been interrupted by a loud shout of “Kelly!” and the Brooklyn leader slowly storming his way over to the three. Davey told Les so go over and play with the other kids while he, Jack and Spot talked. Les was more than happy to go play. “You better have a good explanation for being over on my turf, or I swear I’ll beat you so bad, the boys in Manhattan won't even know it's you!”  Spot immediately stopped in his tracks upon seeing Davey sitting next to the now standing Jack, frowning at the taller boy as if trying to ask him for an explanation. Davey awkwardly shrugged to him and stood as well, dusting himself off and taking a few steps back to watch what would happen between the two leaders.  
  
“Calm down Conlon, I’se not here to start any trouble. If anything I’m here to strike up a deal with ya!” Jack lifted his hands up to stop Spot from stepping closer and to show he meant no harm to the other newsies. “See we got this strike goin’ on down in Manhattan and we need more newsies to join our group-”  
  
“You think I wanna join your pitiful party?” Spot snapped, pressing his pointer finger against Jack’s chest, “You got another thing comin’ for you Kelly. Strikes are dirty business, my boys and I would know, and as fun as the last strike was I don’t think any of us wanna get ourselves tangled in another without good reason. That means unless your boys prove they won’t run at the first sight of danger, I ain’t gunna help ya’ out just yet. Got that?”  
  
Jack rolled his eyes slightly and softly smacked Spot’s hand away from himself, taking a step closer to the smaller boy as if to try and challenge him. “My boys are not cowards Conlon, you know that! Racetrack has taken more than a few hits for you, so has Boots, you really think they would run from a bit of trouble? With how you is going about actin’ like it's the end of the world that we’re on strike’, I’d say you were the one who was a coward and running from first sight of trouble.” Davey gaped at Jack’s harsh words to the Brooklyn leader, he’d never seen anyone stand up to Spot the way Jack just did, he also didn’t expect Spot to laugh but sure enough the Brooklyn newsie was acting as if Jack just gave him the world's funniest joke.  
  
“You aren’t half bad Kelly. Fine, how about we make a deal eh? If you prove to me you aren’t goin’ to run at first sight of trouble like you say you won’t, I’ll actually help ya out. If you do run at first sight of trouble, you can bid my boys and I goodbye from your strike.” Spot spit into his hand, sticking it out to Jack. Jack himself hesitated a bit, looking the boy over as if expecting him to turn at any second, and finally taking his hand for a firm shake. Spot yanked him closer, “If you _ever_ call me a coward again, those eyes you got won’t work anymore, and you won’t ever see that Santa Fe of yours.” he hissed.  
  
Jack nodded quickly and watched as Spot left to check up on the recent newsies who had returned from selling their paper. “He’s uhm...he’s quite the intimidating person.” Davey said, “I’m surprised you stood up to him so easily, I would have backed down after he said no the first time.”  
  
“Thats because you don’t know Spot Conlon like I do.” Jack interjected, “I and Spot go way back, he’s helped out a few of the Manhattan newsies on his own time. Crutchie is the one in our group whose known ‘im the longest I think, but with how much Racetrack knows about him you would think it was Race who knew Spot the longest eh?” Jack looked to Davey, Davey’s expression was that full of confusion. “Right, you haven’t met the other boys since we didn’t really go down to The World today. How about I take you back to the lodging house and introduce you? Still pretty early in the day.”  
  
“A-actually I have some business to attend to here. I gotta sell these papers some place, and may as well try in Manhattan with Les. You said it yourself, we work to keep ourselves afloat and feed what we see as family. In the case of I and Les, we gotta work to keep my parents and sister with a roof over their head. I’ll see you around maybe though uhm..Jack. It was nice sort of conversing with you.” Davey smiled. Jack looked confused for only a second before nodding and heading off to the Brooklyn bridge. Les happily took his brother’s left over papers to sell them off while Davey himself went and found Spot again.  
  
“You know Mouth, when I said ‘I need you to spy’, I didn’t mean stand out in the open and get yourself caught so you’se is dragged back here by Jack Kelly himself. You’re a pretty pathetic spy for failing your job on the first day.” Spot didn’t even look at Davey as he talked. He was more focused on shooting marbles at some glass bottles one of the other boys had set up for him.  
  
Davey frowned, “I’ll have you know that I wasn’t caught, thank you, in fact he thinks I’m a brand new Manhattan newsie who just happens to have a little brother who works in Brooklyn for better pay.” he crossed his arms, flinching as one of the glass bottles shattered with a loud crash. “You really should have more faith in me. If anything being a spy in the open gives you a better chance at getting in and finding out all the details about something without anyone finding you suspicious.”  
  
“Yeah sure, but it gives you a higher chance of being caught.” another glass shatters, “And once you’re caught, you can’t do the job.” _shatter,_ “And when you’re out of a job, you’re absolutely dead to me because word gets out that no one can trust you.” _shatter,_ “And then soon as you know it, someone’s soakin’ you for information, thinkin’ you know everything just because you were a spy once.” **_shatter-_ **  
  
“ _Can you stop that!?_ ” Davey barked. Spot flipped around to face him, slingshot still clearly aimed with a marble ready to go.  
  
“Stop what Mouth?” He asked, taking a few steps closer to Davey and keeping his slingshot aimed. “What exactly are you tellin’ me to stop? You got a brain and a mouth, use your words right or I’ll let this -”  
  
“Stop acting like you’re intimidating! Like it’s the end of the world if I do _one thing_ out of line. You’ve acted like that ever since I joined this newsboy group!” Davey was shouting now, “I did just what you asked _Sean_ , I went to Manhattan to see how they were holding up, brought Jack back, got you information on the strike. That boy didn’t even tell you half of what he told me, he didn’t say why they went on the strike and what reasons he had himself. You know who got him all the information on working out a strike? A kid named Crutchie! I don’t even know who that is but Jack says he knows you or whatever.”  
  
A loud _snap_ of the band on the slingshot ran out, the marble just missing Davey’s head by an inch. Davey didn’t flinch, didn’t jump out of the way. He stood his ground and kept his eyes trained on Spot in wait for a response, his expression stern and frustrated, stance straight in attempts to make himself look more serious than he needed to be. Spot lowered the slingshot and watched Davey for a split second  
  
“Who would have thought The Walking Mouth had a strong voice on him.” He snorted, “Here I thought you were only ever going to let people shove you around. You really are somethin’ Mouth. Fine, you didn’t fail, I guess I’ve been acting too hard on you.” Spot shrugged, turning back around and firing his last marble at the left over bottle. “Sorry for being a hard ass but I gotta keep up my reputation here or someone's going to try and take my place. Shouldn’t have overreacted about you doing the job your own way I guess. I’m done talking to you for today though. You should head home once that little brother of yours gets back before it gets to dark. Crossing that bridge at night is a real pain in the ass.”  
  
Davey turned to leave the little area he and the leader were standing in, he was frustrated to say the least and was stopped in his tracks briefly when Spot spoke one last time, “You’re a lot like Jack you know that? Only difference is he’s a dreamer with his head in the clouds. He lets those dreams consume him and keep him from whats going on in present time.” he chuckled.  
  
“And what exactly do I do?” Davey asked, waiting for Spot to finish his thought.  
  
“Well David, the thing that’s different about you is that _you_ keep your feet on the ground and your dreams behind you. Always watching whats happening here and now. Jack doesn’t know how to do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took awhile to write and I apologize greatly for that.  
> Actually I happened to get a comment about the fic and while it was such a small comment, it really made my day and made me finish up the second chapter!  
> So thank you for that, you know who you are.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always super welcomed!  
> I'll be sure to go back and fix mistakes as a spot them, I haven't yet gotten a chance to look this chapter over and may extend it a little later on.

**Author's Note:**

> Hhhh just hmu if you think I need to go back and fix anything. I've been working on this one chapter for a couple days to get my mind off a lot of stuff and while it could be better, I feel its okay how it currently is.
> 
> Comments are always welcomed, kudos just as much so.


End file.
